On November 12, the California Department of Education announced the California Teachers of the Year for 2011. If you haven’t heard by now, our own Jennifer Kelly of Belgairn Labradors was named a 2011 California Teacher of the year!!! Jennifer teaches eighth grade physical science at Middletown Middle School in the Middletown Unified School District, in Lake County, CA.

I am so happy for Jennifer as I have known her for most of her teaching career. Jennifer is one of the most passionate educators I have ever met in my life. She truly cares about her students as if they were her own children. And in return, her students idolize her! Jennifer was chosen amongst 300,000 (yes three hundred thousand!) teachers in the State of California. To say the least it is a long road to the top and an incredible accomplishment!

The process to become teacher of the year consists of:
• Written Application
• Site visit to the school and the classroom
• Interview with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Here are some articles regarding Jennifer’s major accomplishment…

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr10/yr10rel132.asp

http://www.cta.org/About-CTA/News-Room/Jennifer-Kelly.aspx

http://www.middletownusd.org/home/district-announcements/jenniferkellyselectedascaliforniateacheroftheyear

Congratulations, Jenny!

We love you and are so proud of you!

The Silva Family
Michael, Kimberlee, Alyssa and Brynne

This is phenomenal! Congratulations Jennifer!

KUDOS to Jennifer and congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment!!!!

Congratulations!! You should be very proud! My daughter is a new teacher and I see how hard she works, it is a 24/7 job that takes so much dedication, it is nice to see good teachers honored in this way.

Congratulations Jennifer. What a great honor. My daughter is also a teacher and I think the tremendous amount of initiative and effort the job requires is often overlooked. WTG!!!!

Congratulations Jennifer!!! Such an honor for such a deserving person and teacher. Your "kids" are lucky to have you.

Congrats on such an awsome accomplishment! With 2 kids, 17 & 7, teachers are a big part of my life and when they LOVE what they do it just makes the kids LOVE it that much more

Congratulations, Jennifer! You deserve it after all of these years!!!!!

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Way to go Jennifer!! Congratulations!!
Tammy & Eric

Congratulations Jennifer! What an honor!

Renee

Congratulations Jennifer. That is great!

Congratulations! What a wonderful accomplishment.

How AWESOME Jen! Congratulations on such a wonderful accomplishment, your students are lucky to have you!!!

Congratulations -- that is an awesome accomplishment.

Jennifer this is incredible, absolutely huge!!!! I am so impressed. We knew at High Desert LRC that you had been named in the top 5 but to now find out you are no.1, that is just mind boggling. To be no. 1 in any city, county, state is amazing but to be named the 2011 Teacher of the Year in a state as large as CA in both size and population- well that is just amazing. What an accomplishment. Hats off to you girlie. A huge congratulations from me, Marlynne, Jim, Vonnie, and Lisa! Way to go girlie.

Wow Jen! What a huge accomplishment. You should be very proud and your students should feel very lucky! Congratulations!

Wow, Jennifer, what a tremendous achievement! That's simply fantastic news. I'm delighted for you!

That is just the most wonderful news. For the kids. Teacher really do not have it easy. Congratulations on putting them first. And you have Labradors....what a nice person you are.....we are all proud.

Huge congratulations Jennifer! That is wonderful.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to You, Ron & Family.
JL

Huge Congratulations Jennifer! What an amazing accomplishment in life!!

And I know just the spot. You do too!
The Cabin is available all summer long!!
Get your buns up here!
You will love it.

Ron and the Boys are very proud I am sure.
I know I am. You rock girlfriend!

Big Hugs,
Valerie

How wonderful Jennifer - what a high award!! Teacher of the year in California? Incredibly fabulous! You are indeed special - and you know - your students will reap so many benefits from your great teaching!!! BRAVO FOR YOU!!

Thank you for your congratulations!! I must say it was a strange feeling to receive titles from my district, county, and state; I’m so used to only the dogs earning them for their accomplishments! :o) Teaching is definitely a rewarding profession, yet there are so many hard working, dynamic teachers that don't get the same acknowledgment I have recently received. It always amazes me at the talent and enthusiasm so many teachers have to engage and inspire their students to learn, question, and grow.

Shannan Brown (Sacramento County), Darin Curtis (San Diego County), Beverley Gonzalez (Los Angeles County), and Kadhir Rajagopal (Sacramento County) were also selected as 2011 California Teachers of the Year. Darin will represent California at the National level.

Jennifer Kelly
8th Grade Physical Science Teacher
Middletown Middle School
Middletown Unified School District
Lake County, CA

That is wonderful news.... Such a high honor and I am sure a very well deserved award. We ( in the dog world ) are so very proud.
Thank you for being a great teacher to all of your students.....
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.
Your friend from the Midwest.... Nancy

Congratulations!!!
What a wonderful accomplishment!!!